Sarah Javerson
by Daydreamishly
Summary: To fill the void that leaving Yale has created, Rory writes a novel called Sarah Javerson. Meanwhile, Tristan has appeared in Stars Hollow with his own college disaster story. Trory, OCxOC.
1. Prologues

Sarah Javerson - A Fanfiction by W. L. Smith - A Novel by L. L. Gilmore

A/N: It's been a long time sinceI wrote fanfiction, and never have I attempted a Gilmore Girls fic. So, well, here's hoping.

Prologue - Rory's PoV

The idea struck me that summer I stayed at my grandparent's house, when I was taking a break from Yale. Once this little idea started, it wouldn't leave me alone. It was, of course, a solution. It was a brilliant solution. It was a risky and brilliant solution, and it would take a heck of a lot of work to pull it off. But there it was, and in the end, I knew I had to give it a shot. After all, if I couldn't be a journalist, that didn't mean I couldn't still write, did it?

It took me only a few hours (and not a single list), with a pen and stack of notebook paper in front of me to realize, I had no idea what I was doing. I had no plot. I had no characters. I had no title, no research, no expirience. I hadn't even settled on a genre. I had the talent, sure. But this was not my area of expertise, and I was feeling a lttle (okay, maybe a lot) lost.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Maybe I just lacked the creativity. Maybe I could write only as long as the topic and plot were provided. Maybe I was doomed to be one of the people on that wrote about Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfiction all day long and had in their profile, "I went to Yale for two years, and I'm currently single. Send me a message on ICQ!" Maybe I really should just be an assistant, where at least I could be near the workings of a real-life paper.

It was my mom that got me out of my slump. This was, in the tiniest way, a bit ironic, considering that if I hadn't gone against her words I wouldn't even have time to try and write a novel in the first place. And for once, she didn't even say anything to me. I was just thinking about her. She was, after all, my best friend. And it occured to me, my mom never would have given up in a situation like this. I mean, she got pregnant at sixteen, and went out and got a job. She raised me all by herself, and let's fasce it, at that age, I wasn't exactly the angel everyone thought I was.

I wanted to be like her, like Mom. Not the whole getting-pregnant-at-sixteen thing, per say (which would have been a good bit impossible anyway), but the not-giving-up thing had its appeals.

I was going to do it. I was going to write a book.

Sarah Javerson - L. L. Gilmore

Prologue

"Reading again, Javerson?" Terrance asked spitefully. Sarah didn't choose to acknowledge the boy. She never did. Her pale, and yet oddly, surreally pretty face continued hiding behind a large, leatherbound old tome. Old books were her favorite.

"C'mon, Javerson. Talk. You never talk to me anymore." Terrance tried again, just as coldly as before. He snatched the book right from her hands. This time, Sarah caught the bait.

"I never talked to you in the first place, Terrance!" She said stuffily, leaping at the book as her foe held it stationary, just out of reach. He moved it before her tiny, delicate fingers could close upon it.

"Oh!" she gasped, as she tripped to the ground, shredding her knee on a conviniently placed gravel. 'The whole world is against me today,' she sighed. Terrance showed no sign of concern. He truly, truly could not stand this girl.

"Give it back, Terrance, please." Sarah pleaded, limping back up to his side. He frowned, sensing no more fun would come from this game, and htrew the book as hard as he could at the dried mud. Sarah watched in horror as dust flew from the spot where it collided with the earth. Terrance, just to be rude, jumped on the defensless book, and hopped up and down on it's spine once more. He left.

"Oh, great." Sarah sighed, recovering the book, and then inspecting her knee. She watched Terrance's retreating figure; his hands swinging confidently at his side, his brown-blonde hair ruffled by a nonexistent breeze. He was perfect. But he would never see her. He joined his friends. Sarah could only recognize one other person besides Terrance in the group: his girlfirend Autumn. Oh, how she wished she could be that girl, the one he daily pressed against the lockers to kiss; the one he was nice to, instead of the lonely introvert he hated. Oh, how she wished these and many other things. But alas, today, like so many other days, her wish would not be granted.


	2. Chapters One

A/N:Thanks for the reviews, all. I'll try to make this... er... not boring. Hehe.

Chapter One - Gilmores Divided

Normal Third-Person Omniscent PoV, yay.

Lorelai Gilmore (Senior) walked into Luke's. She muttered a slightly frosty hello to her daughter, who was already there, and sat down at the counter. She frowned, realizing the diner owner (and her future husband) were nowhere to be seen.

"Luke?" she called.

"I think he's upstairs," Rory muttered from behind the five-subject notebook she was furiously scribbling into.

"Oh, 'kay." Lorelai said. She watched Rory for a moment and made to say something, but then thought better of it. She headed up to Luke's apartment.

"Hey, Luke?" Lorelai called into his apartment. It had the air of not being used in a while, the slightly stiff smell of a vacant home. This was surprisingly comforting.

"Lorelai? Hi." He said appreciatively, giving her a quick kiss hello.

"Hey, I love what you've done with the place," She mused, now observing for the first time some stacks of boxes. He was sealing a few with duct tape. (a/n: Duct tape. Quack.)

"Oh, well, yeah, I was just packing the rest of my stuff up, you know." He said cautiously.

"Luke honey, there is no way I can fit anymore of your crap in my house." Lorelai said with a bemused smile. The fact that Luke had attempted to buy her a house had already been revealed, and sadly, there was no way to get the house back, after it was given to Kirk. Luke had, however, agreed to live with Lorelai. It proved to be the best solution in the end, because the now had enough money to expand if needed.

"Yeah, I know, I was just gonna go put it in storage." Luke said, again guardedly.

"Um, maybe you haven't noticed but it'd be a LOT cheaper to just keep the stuff here. Like, free storage. Unless there's a reason you need the stuff out of here..." Lorelai prompted. Luke sighed.

"I'm nnot's supposed to tell you, so when I do tell you, remember, you don't know. Or else, you didn't hear it from me, okay?"

"Huh?"

"Rory's moving up here. She doesn't like living with your granparents and she didn't want to intrude on us, but she misses the town, so I said she could live up here." Luke blurted out.

"Oh. O...kay." Lorelai said hesitantly.

"What?" Luked sighed warily.

"Whaddya mean, what?"

"Lorelai."

"Well, it's just that, I don't know. It'll be weird, her up here, us over there, would it be so bad if she moved back in? Does she hate me that much?" Lorelai asked sadly.

"Of course she doesn't hate you. She just... wouldn't feel comfortable... with us there. And she needs a quiet place to write, probably." Luke said wisely. Lorelai recalled her daughter writing like her life depended on it down in the diner.

"Yeah, that whole writing thing, what's that about, anyway?" Lorelai wondered aloud. Luke looked mildly shocked.

"She's writing a book and she wants to get it published. Didn't she tell you?"

Lorelai sighed heavily.

"No. Communication between us is still... iffy at best. She's all distant and the little robotic monkey that controls my brain always hits the 'cold shoulder' button whenever she's around, so I guess I'm not really surprised. About the not telling me, I mean. The book's pretty weird. She never talked about writing anything other than journalism growing up." Lorelai said.

"Well, that's good, right? I mean, now she has a plan and everything and she's working for it again."

Lorelai gave a short laugh.

"It'd be better if she were going to school to do it."

Luke gave her a sypathetic squeeze on the shoulders and kissed the future Mrs. Luke Danes. Rory stepped back from the apartment door and went back down to the diner. She grabbed her things and headed back home. There wouldn't be any space in her brain to concentrate on writing for a while yet.

Chapter One - Leslie Has a Boyfriend

For Sarah, life basically started the day she met Terrance Danes. But a close second would be the day her best friend, and close rival, Leslie Gairret moved to town. Leslie was a pretty red-headed girl with a very strict mother. Leslie always set high goals (like wanting to attend the American college, Harvard), but was too easily distracted by the glamour of possible romance or the idea of becoming a musician in a crappy local band to achieve them. Leslie was, though, a very good friend, especially to an outcast like Sarah. But boys were often intimdated by Leslie's intelligence (or they were Smash Mouth fans), and she never had a real boyfriend until the eleventh grade.

"His name is Russel, and he's beautiful, and cool, and foreign, and he plays the guitar." Leslie explained rapturously to Sarah on a foggy August morning.

"He's American. That's not exactly foriegn. Especially since you're American, too." Sarah pointed out. Living in northern Canada, Leslie had a thing for anything foreign, since their home was so... bleak.

"My Mom wouldn't think that. I swear, it's like that woman has a phobia of all Canadians. Do you know how long it took me to convince her you wouldn't run away with all the silverware if you came to our house?"

"Why's she afraid of Canadians?"

"She's a freak."

"How is it you have a boyfriend and I don't?"

"You're a freak."

"Hey!" Sarah said indignantly, swatting her friend.

"Don't take it too personally. I was just like you until..." she checked her watch. "Thirty-five minuets ago."

"Right." Sarah said sarcastically. The bell rang at that moment, and Terrance ran in. His usual favorite seat behind her (where he could kick her chair and stick gum in her hair) was mercifully occupied today by Leslie. He sat in front of her instead, making sure Sarah couldn't see the chalk board. Sarah sighed. Another day, another class.


	3. Chapters Two

A/N: Two chapters are better than one.

Chapter Two - Moving In

Normal Third-Person Omniscent PoV, will continue throughout story.

"You used my last name," Luke commented, surveying her Rough Draft. He was the second person Rory was running it by, the first being her grandfather. Richard Gilmore had already given her half a notebook worth of advice and comments. Rory was hesitant to let anyone else read, but knew that it would be better if she did. Movers carried in boxes of her stuff as they discussed her book. Lorelai, off in another corner, discreetly watched her daughter and her now-official husband talk. Things were still icy between Lorelai and Rory, and it hurt slightly that Rory was more comfortable with Luke than her own mother, her former best friend.

"It's a nice name," Lorelai heard Rory reply. "Do you mind?"

"It's fine with me."

"Cool. So, I'll just let you finish that up, 'kay?"

"Oookay."

Rory turned around to meet up with her mother, and Lorelai quickly looked away.

"Hi, Mom." Rory said a little hesistantly.

"Hi, Rory." Lorelai replied awkwardly.

"Um. I just wanted to apologize." Rory said, her muscles stiffening as she said it. She still thought she was right, but with Lane gone on tour and Paris wrapped up in her studies at Yale, she needed her very best friend now more than ever. Ironically, Lorelai relaxed a bit when Rory said this.

"Okay." she said. They didn't need to say anything else, they had reached an understanding. It was good again.

"So how's Logan?" Lorelai asked. She winced. Trust her to bring up the one topic that could rip them apart again.

"Oh, we broke up." Rory said quietly. She recalled their phone conversation seven weeks prior, when Rory said she was in a weird place and needed time to be alone. Logan hadn't taken it too well, and she felt guilty thinking about it.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lorelai said, but she couldn't control a small grin of triumph. Rory rolled her eyes.

"Hey, we're gonna take a lunch break. Be back in an hour." The head moving-guy told Luke. He nodded an muttered an okay without letting his eyes leave Rory's potential-bestseller. The Gilmore Girls giggled together, and all remaining awkwardness between them fell apart.

"Hey, I get to read that when Luke's done, right?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded in response, too happy to be back to normal for words.

They went downstairs to grab something to eat, when Lorelai noticed a figure staring in the window. She motioned indiscreetly with her head and Rory rolled her eyes, but gasped when she saw who it was. As soon as they eyes locked, Tristan walked away. Rory stared. Was Tristan DuGrey seriously in Stars Hollow?

Chapter Two - Autumn, Fall

It was with a morbid fascination that Sarah watched Terrance break up with his long-time girlfriend, Autumn, right across the hall from her locker. Leslie stared with her.

"But, Terrance, why?" Autumn sobbed. Terrances eyes flickered over to meet Sarah's, who immediatly became very absorbed in grabbing her books for third period.

"Her!" Autumn shreiked. "You're breaking up with me because of her?"

This time Sarah swirved around to stare, not caring if anyone noticed. Was Autumn seriously proposing that Terrance was breaking up with her because of Sarah? Had the girl completely lost her mind?

"Um. Could you not yell so loud?" Terrance muttered in shame.

"I will yell all I want, Terrance Samuel Danes, if you are telling me you are breaking up with me over some freaky, bookworm, know-it-all, snobbish...worm!" she finished lamely. Terrance stared, wide-eyed. He didn't dare glance to see whether or not Sarah was looking.

"I didn't say exactly..." His voice, small to begin with faltered, and he couldn't finish. Sarah's heart was pounding furiously. Was Terrance actually not going to deny he was breaking up with Autumn; popular, pretty, and little-more than half-witted: the perfect woman... for Sarah?

"Oh, well that's just great, Terrance. Well fine. We're OVER." Autumn screamed, stomping off. Terrance took about five seconds to watch her leave, finally glance at Sarah's wode-eyed stare, turn brick red, and then bolt for the school's main entrance. Terrance Danes, loud-mouth popular rebel, was for once, at a loss for words.


	4. Chapters Three

A/N: I'm so sorry about all of the typos. See, I'm working outta WordPad right now, no spelling checker, and since I'm so used to having Microsoft Word it's really a pain to go back and correct everything. That being said, jus bear with me, and don't become discouraged over my half-wit spelling and grammar (which is probably not even how you spell that, ugh.) Also, thans for all your uber-stupendous reviews. They make me joyful.

Chapter Three - Walking Helps Me Write

"You need a semi-colon here, don't you?" Lorelai asked for the eight consecutive time.

"No." Rory said, without looking at the paper. Lorelai hadn't been right about the semi-colons so far, and chances are she wouldn't be for a while. "Do you even know what you use a semi-colon for?"

"Yes. Well, not precisely, but, if I keep pointing out places to put one, and you go 'oh, you're absolutely right, semi-colon time, baby!' then I will know what to use them for." Lorelai explained.

"A semi-colon is used in the place of a comma and conjunction." Rory informed, sounding just like an English teacher.

"Conjunction-junction, what's your function?" Lorelai sang.

"Don't sing, it scares all my customers away." Luke said pointedly from behind the counter. Lorelai loved how their little arguments over coffee and food and everything else hadn't faded with marraige. It was gret to be married to her other best friend in the world.

"It's all I can remember anyway." Lorelai shrugged.

"So, wasn't that weird, seeing Tristan like that?" Rory said out-of-the-blue, for the nineteenth (or was it twentieth?) time that day.

"Rory, you've analyzed, it, re-analyzed it, and made about eighty lists in your head. I think we can leave that topic alone now." Lorelai said in annoyance.

"Yeah, but I mean, he was, like, almost my boyfriend. If I hadn't been with Dean, I probably would have been with him. I liked him." Rory said. This was not news to Lorelai anymore, who had heard this speech unnumerable times previously.

"And here he is, just out of the blue, just like that." Lorelai chimed in.

And he didn't even talk to you, what's with that?" Luke finished up.

"Exact-" Rory cut off. She stared at the both of them, and then realized she was being made fun of. She frowned.

"Sometimes I think my life was a lot easier when I wasn't in contact with you," Rory told her mother. She got up and headed, notebook and pencil in arms, to the door.

"And a lot less fun. Where are you going?"

"Out." Rory said coolly.

"To find Tristan?" Lorelai giggled.

"To go on a walk." Rory countered.

"You never just walk, Rory. It's, like, against our code."

"We have a code?"

"Yes, and section B, clause fourteen clearly states that we are always to lazy to put forth more energy than necessary."

"Walking helps me write." Rory lied. She was going to find Tristan. They both knew it.

"Right." Lorelai said sarcastically. "See you later."

"Bye, Rory." Luke added.

"See ya."

Chapter Three - Writing Helps Me Run

"Javerson!" Coach Smith called, blowing his whistle.

"Sir?" Sarah asked, looking up from her journal.

"You're supposed to be stretching. Six-minute mile, Javerson. You fail this, you fail the semester." The Coach told her in a kind, yet strict tone of voice. Sarah had to restrain herself from scoffing. There was no way she would pass this, they both knew it.

"Writing helps me run, sir." Sarah said in her most innocent, sincere voice. Coach Smith sighed.

"I'll tell you what, Javerson. If you start stretching right now, I'll pass you if you make it under ten minutes."

It wasn't that Sarah was overweight, she just had the athletic capabilities of a moose, and happened to be rather awkward on her feet.

"Yes, sir." She said in a resigned tone of voice. She got up and started doing odd exercises to loosen up her muscles. Seeing as how they felt like they were contracting instead, she guessed she wasn't doing 'em right.

"Atta girl," Coach Smith said in a way so sickeningly proud and at the same time hopeful that it made Sarah feel guilty that her feet were too small for her ankles. Five minutes later, Co-Coach Neberson announced the start of the run. People lined up at the starting point. Sarah jogged over with Leslie.

"I'll give you ten dollars if I make it under eight minutes," Leslie said.

"Haha." Leslie said. There weren't enough people at her school, an advanced and expensive prep school called Garwith Academy, for there to be seperate boys' and girls' PE classes, so she shouldn't have been surprised to see Terrance horse-playing with a few other popular guys. He glanced at her but looked away. This had to be the first PE class Sarah had seen him in all year, and it was already a month in.

The whistle blew, and they were off. Sarah managed to get left in the dust again, and right when everyone was at the other end of the track and couldn't see her (Leslie included), Sarah tripped over her sometimes-too-big-sometimes-too-small-never-the-righht-size feet.

"Damn," she muttered. sher knee, scabbed from a few days ago when Terrance had taken her book, was bleeding again. "Coach!" she called, limping back to the gym. "Ugh!" Sarah fell over again, limping not being her strong point either. This time, someone helped her up and walked with her.

"Hey," Terrance said simply.

"Tristan?"

"Fall again, Javerson?" He asked with amusement. There was something there, though. Something that lie between them that made it different. Something very different than hate.

"Yeah. My feet are too small, or big, or something."

"No they aren't they're the perfect size. It's all in your head." He said. Sarah stared. Had it not come from Terrance, it would have been a weird sentiment anyway. Coming from Terrance, who was her long-time enemy/secret-true-love, it was uber-weird.

"Maybe your right," Sarah said quietly, just to say saometihng. Right now she was just to wrapped up in staring at him to know precisely what she was thinking, let alone saying.

"Oh, Sarah." Coach Smith groaned.

"Sorry." Sarah muttered pathetically.

"See ya, Sarah." Terrance said softly. Sarah sighed happily. Things were changing, she could tell, if only by the fact that he had called her Sarah.


	5. Chapters Four

Chapter Four - What're Friends For?

"You know, this Terrance guy, he kind of reminds me of Tristan. You know, from Chilton?" Paris said, reading the Rough Draft of Sarah Javerson.

"I wouldn't say so."

"Yes, he is. He's mean and he only care's about himself until he starts liking Sarah. Oh, and you slipped up in Chapter Three and called him Tristan."

"What!"

"It's right here." Paris said, pointing to Tristan's name.

"How did I not notice that? How did Mom and Luke and Grandpa not notice that?" Rory wondered in disbelief.

"You come from a long line of idiots?" Paris suggested.

"So, what do you think so far?" Rory asked.

"It's okay. If it was in the library, I'd pick it up, leaf through the first few pages, and then go off to find sometihng else."

"Thanks for that, Paris." Rory said sarcastically. Paris smiled warmly.

"What're friends for?"

"So how's school?" Rory asked conversationally.

"It sucks."

"Oh, well, too bad." Rory stuttered. Carefully she said, "And, the paper?"

"It sucks."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"'Cause it fell apart after you left. You were our best writer, and many of our other reporters lost hope after that, and Doyle is still in counseling."

"Oh."

"Logan's not doing good. I think he'll be okay, though." Paris said. Rory sighed with relief.

"I want him to be okay. I just, I'm not at Yale anymore, and his parents hate me, and I didn't want to be with him."

"Relationships don't work very well for you."

"I guess not. But I wouldn't be talking if I were you, come to think."

"Hey, I can't help it if the one guy I would've stayed with forever dies."

"What about Doyle?"

"He's in therapy."

"So?"

"I don't like him."

"Okay."

"I might love him."

"Okay."

Chapter Four - Move?

"Hey, Sarah?" Ms. Javerson called from the kitchen of their home.

"Yeah?" Sarah said snappishly. She'd been daydreaming. About Terrance. Again.

"What do you think about New York?"

"Nah, too dirty." Sarah said with a wrinkled nose.

"We can't stay here forever, you know." Sarah's mom said with a sigh.

"No, you can't stay here forever. I'm fine with this place. You're the one who wants to live in a bigger town."

"I hate it here." Sarah's mom said bluntly.

"Okay, well, you move, I'll live with Leslie."

"No."

"They'd let me, you know."

"I know. No." Sarah's mom repeated.

"Okay, then we're not moving."

"Yes, we are."

"Why?"

"We don't even have a movie theater around here. This place sucks. Uber-sucks. I hate it here." Sarah's mom declared once more. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure it's not just 'cause Gramma and Grampa live down the road?" She countered.

"That too."

"Mom!" Sarah scolded.

"Hey, just 'cause you get along with my really old, really boring parents doesn't mean I have to."

"They like you fine. It's Daddy they don't like." Sarah reminded her.

"I'm calling about this apartment I found on a web search, it's got three bedrooms, one for Daddy and me, one for you, one for guests. I've always wanted a guest room. It's got Two and a half baths, too."

"How can you have a half of a bathroom?"

"They take a giant saw to it?" Sarah's mother suggested.

"I don't want to move." Sarah declared once more. She wouldn't push it more than that. Sarah's mom always made plans to move, but in the end she'd never leave her buisness, a small, yet elegant catering service.

"I think I'll go to bed." Sarah said.

"'Night, hun."

"'Night."


	6. Chapters Five

A/N: Just in case you haven't figured it out already, here's a quick guide to who's who.

Sarah- Uh, hullo. Rory.

Terrance- Tristan

Autumn- Summer (I think that was her name), Tristan's girlfriend

Leslie- A weird Lane/Paris hybrid

Sarah's mother- Lorelai

Sarah's father (not yet seen)- Luke

Sarah's grandparents (not yet seen)- a less high-society version of Rory's grandparents

Chapter Five - Wait A Minute, Your Heart's Not Broken!

It was with a heavy heart and sense of forboding that Rory made her way to Logan Huntzberger's room. It would have been rude, after all, to come all the way to Yale and not even visit him. Would he be emotional? Would he be angry, sad? Would he have thousands of half-empty beer bottles all over the place? Would he be blasting mournful Celein Dion and Jessica Simpson melodies from his stereo? She finally came to his door and, taking in a great amount of air, knocked.

"Colin, Finn, that you? Tell me you brought more than just those old Backstreet Boys CDs this- oh." Logan said as he opened the door. "Not Colin."

"Nor Finn." Rory added awkwardly.

"Well, uh, hey, Ace. How are you?" Logan said, forcing a smile. Rory realized that it hurt the tiniest bit that he had to force the smile.

"Oh, I'm pretty good. How's...how's school?" Rory saked. She was still in th doorway.

"It's...fine."

"Oh, okay." Rory said. "Well, I was just coming to, y'know, say hi and everything, I was, actually, um, making Paris read my book and stuff, so, um, I came to say hi, and, well. Hi."

"Logan? Is that Colin and Finn? I tell you what, they better've brought more than just those Backstreet Boys CDs or I'll, oh. Hello." A pretty blonde girl said, coming to Logan's side. Rory must've looked puzzled, because Logan quickly launched into an explanation.

"Oh, um, Rory, this is, my, uh, girlfriend. Casey, this is, um, Rory, my, uh," he cut off, not really knowing what Rory was to him anymore.

"Ex." finished Rory. "Just dropping in, saying hi, y'know." 'and making a complete ass of myself,' she added mentally.

"Yeah, okay." The pretty blonde known as Casey said.

"Well, I'll be going." Rory said. "Bye."

"Bye, Rory." Logan said. Rory turned away and walked back to her car, thinking the whole time that that would be the last time she ever bothered to check up on Logan Huntzberger.

Chapter Five - Russel and Autumn Sitting in a Tree...

"He's gone, it's over, I've lost him!" Leslie wailed. Sarah, not quite sure what to do, just patted her back cautiously.

"He was great, he was cool!" Leslie squealed. "And now he's gone!"

"Oh, it's okay, Leslie." Sarah tried to comfort her. Truth was, this had never happened before. Neither of them had ever had a boyfriend, ever. She was too brainy and Leslie was too, well, Leslie.

"Easy for you to say," Leslie muttered. "You've got a guy who likes you, a cute guy, albehim a jerk."

"Hey!" Sarah scolded, but then thought again about specifying what she was scolding her for. Leslie looked at her in surprise, and then her eyes widened.

"Do you like him?" She asked bluntly.

"Russel? Why would I?"

"No, not Russel! Terrance!"

"Oh, um. Hey, ut looks like you're fine now, I think I'll be going." Sarah said hurriedly. She wouldn't fool either of them with that, she knew, but as long as Leslie din't push the matter...

"You know, this is your fault."

...Then she wouldn't be Leslie.

"Whaddya mean?" Sarah asked wearily.

"If Terrance hadn't liked you, Autumn wouldn't be single and Russel wouldn't have a chance with her."

This was so insanely unfair Sarah just shook her head and made to leave.

"Fine, leave, but Sarah Ramona Javerson, if you walk out that door, you and I are no longer friends."

Sarah found she didn't care very much.

"'Kay. Later."

About three hours later, Leslie called Sarah and apologized profusely. She also mentioned that she knew Sarah didn't love Terance and she was stupid for accusing her of it. It was a bittersweet irony. It was, Sarah reminded her, the exact sort of trick her Life was fond of playing on her.

A/N: This chapter was sort of bittersweet for me. I'm also a Logan/Rory fan (don't bite my head off, please), and it was hard to write them breaking up. Oh well.


	7. Chapters Six

Chapter Six - Reunited

Rory woke up on the couch her grandmother had given her the first year she attended Yale. This couch now no longer belonged to her. It belonged to Paris. And it was at Paris's Yale dorm, and Rory had slept on it. These fuzzy thoughts continued circling around fuzzily in Rory's mind until she finally realized, three minutes later, what had happened last night. Rory had been overwhelmed with meeting Logan last night, and had needed a place to crash. Paris hdn't minded to let her stay, and Rory didn't think she was up to the drive back to Stars Hollow. Now it was 10:30 A.M., and Rory had to go home, if for no other reason than she had left her toothbrush at home.

"Paris?" Rory called.

"What?" Paris groaned from her room.

"Shouldn't you be up by now?" Rory asked, momentarily distracted.

"I don't have any classes until noon." Paris muttered blearily.

"Oh, okay. It's 10:34." Rory said.

"Oh, fine." Paris groaned. She went into the living room-y area and went to the mini-fridge (also once belonging to Rory) and pulled out a pint of milk and a box of cereal. She grabbed a bowl and started to assemble.

"Um, I'm gonna head home." Rory said.

"Then why'd you wake me up!" Paris groaned with her mouth full of milk and half-chewed cereal. Rory winced.

"I was just telling you bye," she said pathetically.

"Bye," Paris said, throwing her cereal away and going back to bed. Rory rolled her eyes and decided to head out to her car. She was still wearing her clothes from last night, she realized with a frown. On the way home, she accelerated slightly over the speed limit, thiking the whole way, "shower shower shower, toothbrush toothbrush tooothbrush."

When she back to Luke's diner, people were already inside. Rory groaned. She couldn't go inside looking the way she did. Too many town peoples to talk. She sighed, and knew immediatly that the realization of the utter loss of going back to Logan ever again that she had so been avoiding last night was coming. And suddenly she was sobbing with her forehead pressed to the steering wheel.

"Rory?" a soft voice asked softly from her window.

"Logan?" Rory asked increduously. Looking up, though, she realized that this was definately not Logan. Heartache momentarily forgotten, Rory managed to choke out "Not Lo. Gan. Tristan!"

"Who's Logan?" Tristan asked, a malicious gleam in his eye. Rory smiled, unable to ignore the fact that he was being protective-y over her.

"What're you doing here?" Rory asked, opening the car door and suddenly wishing she had combed her hair a little less hapharzardly this morning.

"What're you doing here?" Tristan replied, motioning to the car.

"Oh, I was, trying to go home, but there's too many people in the diner, and I just spent the night at Paris's 'cause Logan didn't miss me, and now all I want is a shower and I don't know what to do," Rory choked, sobbing once more. Tristan frowned, trying to follow her pattern of logic, but not quite able to connect the dots.

"Come on, Mary, let's go back to my place and I'll get you a cup of tea," Tristan suggested. Rory nodded and let him put an arm around her shoulders.

Chapter Six - Something's Different in My World Today, They Changed My Traffic Signs, To a Brighter Yellow

For some reason, Sarah cared when she woke up that morning. Not just about the World History quiz she had later, either. It was a new day, and who knew what joyous adventures it would bring? With a potential boyfriend, the world suddenly looked to be a brighter place. She woke up earlier than usual, and realized that her alarm wouldn't ring for another forty-five minutes. She grinned and decided to go take her shower early, and have time to attempt to put her hair up after she dried it.

"Are you wearing make-up?" Leslie exclaimed with an excited sort of grin. She had been insisting to Sarah for the last five years that a little eyeshadow could go a long way with her eye color or something like that.

"Just a little mascara and eyeshadow," she shrugged.

"Well, okay. It's a start. We need to get to our lockers. The bell's about to ring."

"Oh, okay." Sarah said in a dissapointed tone. She had been hoping to get a glimpse of Terrance before the day started. It would have to wait.

First and second period crawled by before Sarah even got a glimpse of Terrance. But suddenly, there he was, coming into their English class. She pretended to be absorbed in what Leslie was saying as she toyed with the danglie earing she was wearing. She could feel Terrances stare as he passed and sat behind her. She wondered to herself if today he'd kick her chair like usual. Somehow she doubted it. The bell rang. The teacher announced today they would start reading some play in some book by some one who was dead. Did it really matter?

Terrance pulled on the braid Sarah had fixed her hair into today. Sarah tried to look annoyed as she turned around.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah, who are you and what have you done with Sarah Javerson?" Terrance asked with mock concern. Sarah offered a small smile as she rolled her eyes.

"I woke up early," she explained. "You think it's too much?"

"No, you look nice," Terrance told her with a grin.

"You're teasing me," frowned Sarah.

"I just don't see why you went out of your way to look all pretty for me," Terrance told her. Sarah rolled her eyes again. She wondered if he was just teasing her about that last comment, even though it was true.

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for David." Sarah said sarcastically. David, a tall and rather stupid senior, looked over at her, hearing his name. She gave him a flirty wave, to which he rolled his eyes and turned away. Sarah laughed, but Terrance didn't find the humor.

"Hullo, I was kidding. I don't like him," Sarah added to his scowl.

"Oh," he said. He grinned at her perplexed face.

"You're wanted," he said. Sarah heart leapt.

"What?"she asked. He pointed in front.

"Stop flirting with Terrance, Sarah." The teacher advised. Sarah considered countering, she hadn't really been flirting after all, she didn't think anyway. But what fun would that be.

"Yes, ma'am." she said politely. As class resumed, Sarah felt Terrance's eyes boring into the back of her skull. She laughed to herself, as her teacher began passing out copies of some play in some book by some one who was dead.


	8. Chapters Seven

Chapter Seven- The Second Best Coffee

"Coffee, right? Or, would you like tea? I think I remember you as a coffee person, but I could be wrong," Tristan babbled as they entered his apartment. Rory sniffled pathetically.

"Coffee," she said firmly.

"'Kay, I have a pot from this morning left-over, should be fine if we warm it up, or do you want me to make some more?" Tristan asked. Rory realized that this wasn't the same Tristan she had known. The old Tristan would have been making fun of her. This was definately something she could live with.

"No, that's okay," Rory sniffled.

"Okay, so, milk or sugar or anything?"

"Black," Rory said in the most firm voice she had used all day.

"Okay, um. Here you go," Tristan said. Rory gave him a curious look, and then decided to voice her musings.

"You've changed. You know, from old pain-in-the-neck Tristan that I know. Knew." Rory added smiling a little as he sat down beside her on her sofa. It was a nice sofa, she realized. He was a nice guy.

"I'm still me when there's no crying involved," he said with a little bit of a grin. Rory blushed a little, but didn't know what to say. She drank the coffee he had given her, and realized with a small bit of shock that the coffee, even if slightly aged, was really very good. Almost as good as Luke's. 'Almost.' she added with a smile to herself.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?" Tristan asked after a while in comfortable silence.

"I... can't. I need to get to my Mom's, ugh, I just wanna go home and take a shower. We'll hook up later, okay? Thanks for the coffee, you probably saved my life." Rory said. Tristan chuckled, but stopped when he saw Rory was completely serious.

"Hold on, I'll drive you home." Tristan offered.. Rory hesitated, not feeling great about making him go out of his way for her, but she really didn't feel like walking the whole way.

"Yes, please." she finally decided. It was a quick drive, after all.

"Okay, hold on just a second." Tristan told her. Rory, for once, was glad to have someone tell her what to do. Tristan grabbed his keys and pushed him and Rory out the door, down the stairs and into his car.

"Nice," Rory commented, impressed that, unlike her car, there weren't McDonald's drive-through bags left all over the floor in the passenger side. And all in the back seat,

"It was a present, for getting into college." Tristan said carefully. Rory wondered if the reason he sounded so hesitant was that he had heard about her dropping out of Yale.

She didn't feel like addresing it at the moment. Maybe later.

"Turn left here," Rory reminded him.

"Yeah, I know the way," Tristan said with a little annoyance. Apparently, Rory added for later usage, Tristan didn't like people helping him drive.

"You do?" Rory realized with a mild bit of shock. Why would he know where it is? Tristan looked embarassed.

"Well, yes, when I first moved here, I tried to look you up and all, everyone pointed me in this direction, but there wasn't anyone home."Tristan explained.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Rory asked, realizing for the first time that Tristan was living in her town.

"I'll explain later, we're here now." Tristan told her. They both got out and walked to the door.

"Thanks so, so much, Tristan," Rory said when they got to the door. "I'd invite you in for coffee, but I don't know what sort of condition my Mom's left the place in, y'know, clothes ecerywhere, I don't know whether or not my Mom would be mad, so,"

"It's fine," Tristan assured her. The grinned at eachother for a moment before Rory gave Tristan a hug a said sincerely, "I'm glad you're here. I missed you."

"I missed you too," Tristan whispered too quietly for her to hear as she leapt with a wave into Lorelai's house.

Chapter Seven - Kiss the Enemy, Why Don't You?

"Alright, now tht we've finished chapter one, pair up into partners, and discuss what emotions you associated with certain parts of the text," the teacher instructed. Terrance tapped Sarah's shoulder and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Sarah pushed her chair closer to his desk and sat down, book in hand.

"So, do you have any idea what this guy's talking about?" Terrance asked her, referring to the book.

"Nope."

"Good, then we're in agreement." Terrance said importantly. Sarah laughed.

"This is boring. I hope the bell rings soon." Sarah said.

"Way to boost my confidence," Terrance said dryly. Sarah shook her head.

"You know that's not what I meant." She said seriously.

"I know." Terrance said with a small grin. Sarah put her head down on Terrance's desk.

"I hope you didn't get too used to me getting all pretty today, 'cause that's the last time I wake up early and think anything but 'ugh, too early, more sleep.'" Sarah said with a yawn. To her suprise, she actually felt herself drifting off for a few seconds. Terrance smiled sweetly at her.

"You sleep cute," he said without thinking. Sarah opened her eyes and laughed a little.

"How long do I have to nap before the bell rings?" Sarah asked with another yawn.

"About three minutes." Terrance said, still a little embarrassed about what he had said a few moments ago. Sarah sighed.

"Not enough time to go to sleep." She said sadly. She sat up straight and stretched. She grabbed her pencil and started drawing random curlicues on the desk. Sarah did this from time to time.

"Don't mess up my desk," Terrance told her with annoyance, already trying to smudge the pencil marks off with his sleeve.

"Oh, fine." Sarah huffed. She grabbed her pen and Terrance's hand and started drawing on it instead. Terrance rolled her eyes at her child-like behavior. Sarah suddenly had a wonderful idea. An awful idea. It was a wonderfully awful idea. With an evil glint in her eye, Sarah quickly scribbled something on Terrance's hand just as the bell rang. She grinned, laughed, and ran away before he could look at what she had written. He glanced at his hand, rolled his eyes, and with determination, set off after her. He found her, still grinning at her littl eprank. It really wasn't even that clever. But it had been fun. She closed her locker and turned around, and there was Terrance, looking bemused and yet compelled. Sarah had a sneaking suspicion that this look was her fault. It was, in a way, empowering. It was also, in a way, terrifying. But before she had too much time to analyze, Terrance had her up against her lockers and was kissing her. She vaguely recalled dreaming about this a few weeks ago, and here it was.

"Sarah! What the hell are you doing?" screeched a seriously freaked out Leslie.

"Oh, jeeze." Sarah said with annoyance, pulling back from Terrance in time to see Leslie furiously narrow her eyes, turn around and walk away. The scenario in which Leslie hated her for loving Terrance had played out endlessly in Sarah's mind already, so she wasn't exactly shocked. "I should probably,"

"Leave it," Terrance cut her off. He stared at her intensely. Sarah glanced at his hand, where she had scribbled "I love Sarah", with a heart instead of love, and seeing that he hadn't bothered to remove it, Sarah was forced to obey. She gave him a small, worried smile and nodded her head, and they were kissing again, and all thoughts about the ex-best-friend were lost.


	9. Chapters Eight

A/N: I love reviewers. I don't know If I've made that clear, but I just want everyone to know that I'm so uber-appreciative of all your comments that it isn't even funny. Well, maybe a little comical. This

Chapter Eight- Welocme to Stars Hollow

Newly cleansed and happy, Rory made her way to the phone.

"Zach." was the grumpy greeting on the other end.

"Is Lane in the vicinity?" Rory asked.

"I don't know. I don't freaking care I-"

"Zach, is that for me?"

"God, Lane, how many times do we have to tell you not everything is about you!"

"It's Rory, isn't it?" Rory heard Lane say calmly.

"No, it's- it's Georgia, one of my fans. SHE thinks that the band was GREAT last night without you-"

"That's nice." Lane snatched the phone, interrupting Zach's rant. "Rory!"

"Lane!" Rory squealed. "You didn't call me!"

"I know, I know, I meant to, but Zach... Ugh." Lane said in frustration.

"You should really get your own cell phone," Rory advised.

"Well, when we got this one, we thought it'd work because then we could each use it and we'de split the cost, we didn't incorporate the idea of fights."

"Yeah, you want to tell me what that was about? It sounded ugly."

"It was about Zach being a control freak. Again. I wasn't feeling well last night, I had to stay in bed, they had to find a last-minute, no-talent substitute and Zach's totally annoyed."

"You would think he'd chill, seeing as how he didn't like the idea of touring in the first place." Rory said mildly.

"Ah, well. Zach is all about the music."

"It's why you love 'im." Rory reminded her.

"Ah, that it is. So, anything new in Stars Hollow?" Lane asked with interest.

"Well, no really big gossip, but, um, Tristan, an old friend of mine from Chilton moved here,"

"Um, on what alternate plane could that not be considered big?" Lane asked excitedly. "You were in love with him!"

"I was not in love with him!" Rory said in annoyance.

"You were so." Lane persisted unfazed.

"We were just friends. Not even friends at first, as you'll remember."

"Denial doesn't suit you, Rory." Lane admonished her.

"Uh huh. I'm going to hang up now."

"Okay. Tell Luke and Lorelai and Mama I said hi,"

"Will do." Rory said, perfectly friendly once more.

"And tell Tristan I said hi!" Lane called.

"Totally. He has no idea who you are, but I think the thought is really what counts here." She heard Lane laughing as she clicked off the phone. She smiled to herself and called the number next door.

"Babette?" She asked when someone picked up the phone. "Hey, Rory! Can I do somethin' for ya?"

Rory took a deep breath, knowing she was taking a risk, but she needed a number and she didn't think she could find the apartment again.

"I need a number," she said, stalling. "Tristan DuGrey's number."

"Oh! The new kid! Yeah, I have it written down somewhere, Patty just gave it to me yesterday, in fact. He's a peice of art, that Tristan babe, ain't he?"

"Oh, yeah, um. Definately Picasso-esque." Rory said awkwardly. Babette gave her the number.

"You two have fun now," Babette said mischeiviously. Rory knew that this little favor was not going to slide by Babette's gossip radar. She called Tristan.

"Hullo?" Tristan answered solemnly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rory asked with concern.

"Rory? How'd you get my number?" He asked, avoiding her question. Rory couldn't help but wonder if he did that on purpose.

"Um. First off I'm sorry. And second off, well, you're now officially a citizen of Stars Hollow." Rory said, wincing, thinking about the conversation that was probably being held between Babette and Miss Patty at the moment.

"Um. What?" Tristan asked, for the second time in one day failing to follow rory's pattern of logic.

"Maybe I can explain it over coffee?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"Sure." He said.

"Luke's in half an hour?"

"A diner?"

"Don't mock. Luke has the world's best coffee. And he's my step-father," Rory added.

"Oh. Sorry." Tristan said, figuring her insulted her.

"I'll forgive you if you agree to meet me there," Rory told him, sounding more flirtatious than she'd meant to.

"All right." Tristan agreed, a familiar laughing edge back in his voice suddenly.

"See you in a bit!" Rory said, hanging up suddenly, leaving Tristan to stare bemusedly at the phone.

"My clothes!" Rory said unhappily, racing to the door of her mother's home. How could she have forgotten al her clothes were at the apartment? So in her mother's old Bangles t-shirt and a pair of jeans that she had last worn, maybe when she was seventeen, she raced to the diner to change, not caring about town gossips. She was already the Topic of the Day, so what was a little bit more talk?

As she ripped up to the apartment, she said hullo to Luke and Lorelai, the only people in the diner.

"What to wear..." she said, bemused.

"Where's the fire?" Lorelai asked, coming in the room.

"Tristan's coming. I need clothes."

"What about your brown sweater? It's nice."

"Brown sweater? That's a good idea! And... let's see... These?" Rory asked, holding up a pair of jeans.

"Yeah, why not?" Lorelai said as Rory went to the bathroom to change.

"Amazing how I needed your help to pick out the world's most basic outfit ever." Rory mused a few minutes later, coming out. Lorelai, however was not there.

Rory sighed. Taking a deep breath, she headed downstairs. Tristan was there.

"Here we go."

Chapter Eight- Official

"I'm liking this whole change of status here." Terrance told her happily.

"Yeah?" Sarah said, just as happily.

"Yep." He clairified. She smiled. "You know, we probably should try reading that play-thingy again."

"Probably." Sarah agreed.

"We could try tonight, your house?" Terrance asked.

"Yeah, sure. But, you have to promise me we'll actually study. I can't let my grades slip. I'm trying to get into a good college."

"I'll do what I can." Terrance said mildly. "See ya later, Javerson."

"Wait, where are you going?" Sarah said sadly. Terrance grinned and gave her a quick kiss. "My whole world can't revolve around you, y'know. I've got classes to skip,"

"Let me come!" Sarah pleaded.

"What happened to not letting grades slip?" Terrance asked with raised eyebrows.

"Ah, to hell with school." Sarah said with a giggle. They both knew she wouldn't really skip class.

"See ya, Javerson." Terrance said with a wink. Sarah grinned and went to her next class.

"Oh, look. The backstabber." Leslie said as she sat down.

"Get over yourself, Leslie." Sarah said coolly.

"You're one to talk. Breaking up not one, but two great relationships for your own sake." said Leslie.

"Actually, you might think of it as creating two new relationships and ending two old ones that never would have worked," Sarah pointed out.

"Oh, whatever. Russel and I would've gone the whole way, and you know it." Leslie said bitterly.

"Not if he was pining for another woman." Sarah reminded her.

"He was not pining," Leslie spat.

"I'm sorry, isn't that what you call it when someone yearns intensely and persistently, especially for something seemingly unattainable?" Sarah replied, sounding a lot more cold than she had intended.

"Oh, don't you start with me!" Squealed an anguished Leslie.

"You started with me!" Sarah exclaimed.

"You think you're Miss Perfect, but hey! Maybe you're the one who messed up!"

"Enough!" Called the teacher. Had the bell rung already?

"Back to your seats! Another outburst from either of you, and it's straight off to the Headmaster's office!"

"Yes ma'am." The both replied sullenly in unison.

This was, Sarah realized, officially a new chapter in her life.


	10. Chapters Nine

A/N: Obviously, I've been working several months on this chapter. I apologize. But, all the same, you are unaware of how many times I deleted this file as a bad case of writer's block. Explanations were due in this chapter, but thoroughly providing them was an issue. In other news: I now have spell check again! You don't have to be all disgusted by my abhorrent tendency to type faster than I spell, anymore! Aren't you glad? Wheee! Now, let us begin this chapter…

Chapter Nine: Tristan—BACK! Existence—EXPLAINED! Love—HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE IN THE AIR! Heck YES!

They sat laughing, just like they'd never been apart.

"And then, my mom started yelling at her," Tristan continued. Rory was laughing already.

"But it wasn't like she told her to wear the dress!" Rory objected, still laughing.

"Exactly, which was made it so funny. Here was this girl, trying so hard to impress Mom, and my idiot brother, making it known in no uncertain terms that he was sleeping with her, and expecting me to be impressed, not thinking about the impact on Mom, and Mom starts yelling at her because she was wearing the same dress as another lady. I actually felt kind of sorry for her. But it was so funny the way my mom kept spluttering out random words like that!"

"God, I would have died had I been her. I know what it's liked to be disapproved of like that," Rory said, half hoping he'd ask her to explain.

"Oh?" He asked mildly, never disappointing. Rory shrugged and said as nonchalantly as she could,

"Yeah, my ex-boyfriend's superstar journalist dad told me I wasn't cut out for the writing biz." Tristan suddenly looked sort of serious.

"I that why you, I mean…" His voice trailed off.

"Dropped out of college? You heard?" Rory asked calmly, although feeling a little annoyed.

"Yeah. So, is that why?" He asked. She didn't answer for a moment, choosing instead to take a sip of her coffee.

"I guess." She said. "I hate how weak that sounds, but it's, well, the truth."

"It's not weak," he said quietly. He paused for a moment. "You had a real reason."

"Not really," Rory said certainly, pretending that it didn't bother her that she'd screwed up so badly.

"A better reason than I did." He admitted quietly. This caught her attention.

"You dropped out of college?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"It's… sort of embarrassing." He admitted. This only proved to make Rory more curious.

"You don't have to tell me," she said slowly, (well, slow for her, anyway), "but I definitely would, you know, laugh if you did."

"Well, I went to Harvard. I was sort of looking for you." He began. "I don't know if you know this or not, but back at Chilton, I was pretty infatuated with you. And when I got sent away, well, of course I saw other girls, but my thoughts were always around you. It's crazy, I know, I had just known you back in high school and not even very well, but, well," He paused to look at her and then, seeing her blush, looked away again.

"I went to Harvard because I thought I remembered you being obsessed with that place," he said, smiling at the memory. "Truthfully, I had no real interest in any college in any aspect. It was pointless to me. I had my diploma, I could get a job, what was the purpose in wasting four more years of my life to academic slavery? But, my grandfather insisted, and, well, I ended up there, figuring that as long as I was going, I might as well get a few laughs along the way, usually while torturing you."

"But I changed my mind, I went to Yale," Rory said breathlessly. She was, in a word, stunned. He went through all this because of her?

"Yeah, well, I eventually figured that out. Well, not exactly Yale, but I figured you went elsewhere. The first few months, when I didn't see you around, I just thought, 'well, hey, big campus, right? I'll see her around eventually," I even changed a few of my classes, and eventually my major, looking for the bookworm I'd fallen for so long ago," Tristan said, grinning sheepishly now. "But you weren't there. In the meantime, I met Amber."

"Amber?"

"She went to Harvard like me, and her grandfather knew mine because they were cousins, or something. We got pretty serious," He said. To Rory's repulsed face he added scathingly, "We were like, twelfth cousins or something, okay? Really distant. I'm not from Kentucky." He said vehemently. Rory looked at him in disbelief.

"Well, whatever. Anyway, we got engaged, and, long story short, she ran off with another guy, and I found out that she had done the same thing to tons of other guys, and even had a kid or two running around." He finished, looking slightly annoyed. Rory was silent a few more moments.

"She… was your cousin?" She repeated.

"Like fifteenth or twentieth!" He tried to reason.

"You said twelfth before!" She accused.

"I wasn't being specific!"

"You still aren't!"

"Ugh," he said, exasperated.

"I'm sorry," Rory finally told him after a silence, "that you went through all that, for me."

"I don't guess I regret it, really," he said quietly. He drained the rest of his coffee. "I guess it was a good experience for me to have, humbling or something. Anyway, I should probably go,"

"Wait!" Rory said urgently. He paused, looking at her severely, still sort of annoyed with her. "Do you want to, I dunno, have dinner, or something?"

He stared.

"Um, as a date?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, yeah, I mean, if you're still interested." She replied. He stared at her still.

"You don't have to do this if you, you know, feel sorry for me, or something." He said wearily.

"No, nothing like that, I just, I don't know; I've _missed_ you." Rory admitted solemnly.

"Um, okay. When?"

"Today's… Tuesday, right?"

"Yeah."

"How about this Friday?"

"Can I drive?"

"Will you drive a million miles an hour?" She asked hesitantly, having enough boyfriend experience to be wary of speeders.

"I won't."

"Do you normally?"

"Not when I'm on a date, or taking random rescued former friends back to their mother's house." He snickered.

"Okay, pick me up at six, I'll decide where we're going."

"No, let me decide. I'd kind of like to go into Hartford, and I know the area better." Tristan countered stubbornly. Rory was hesitant. What if she saw her Grandmother there?

"Well, okay." She agreed slowly.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I might have to wear a ski mask over my face to avoid my Grandmother and her crowd, but yeah, okay." She agreed.

"I could choose somewhere else…" he started.

"No, I'm fine, just being over-dramatic." Rory confirmed.

"So, uh, see you then?" Tristan asked, already only a moment away from the door.

"Yeah," said Rory cheerfully. They smiled at each other and then Tristan left. Rory sighed.

"You can come out now, Luke!" she called.

"I don't like him. He's practically a stalker," Luke told her at once.

"Not a very good stalker," Rory mused. Luke rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you later," Rory said, before practically skipping out of the diner.

-----------------------------------------------

Chapter Nine- Study

"I-told-you," Sarah giggled, "studying."

"God, you don't need it anyway, Javerson," Terrance told her confidently, trying to capture her lips once more. Sarah laughed in reply and pulled back.

"Maybe it's not me I'm worried about," Sarah said mischievously. Secretly, though, she wasn't all laughs. He was at her house, and there hadn't been a second chair she could have put at her desk to make room for him, so he had agreed to sit on her bed while she sat at the desk. But he immediately and sincerely needed help deciphering one passage, and she'd wandered over to assist. Upon the classic sudden awareness of the limited space between them, studying had suddenly dropped a rung on their priorities, so to speak. To make matters worse, Sarah had closed the door so that they could study in peace. Her parents were still home and awake (at least she thought, what time _was_ it, anyway?), but it would still not pay anyone any favors to get to involved in the whole kissing thing, which in this instance, might turn into something more. Which she did _not_ want. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

He kissed her again, overpowering her with his strength, and she sighed. It was so hard to concentrate when he kept dazzling her, just by kissing her. Or being around her, for that matter. He pulled her down on top of him, and she was blissful.

God, what was _wrong_ with her? She pulled back forcefully, now serious. He gazed back at her, confused. She simply shook her head, and then sat up, straddling him.

"I can't risk… doing anything I'm not ready for." She said quietly. With a sigh, she realized she probably needed to move before she cause some unwanted sexual tension. She did and sat on her knees, while he was still, watching her. She turned pleading eyes upon him.

"It's not that I don't trust you." She said in a whisper. "I don't trust _me_." It sounded stupid, and clichéd. But she couldn't help it if it was the truth.

"Hey," he said, putting his arms around her waist and dragging her towards him.

"No, Terrance, did you hear me? I said…"

"We're not going to _do_ anything. I just want you to lie down with me, understand?" He said impatiently. Sarah stared for a moment, unsure.

"I won't _try_ anything, I _swear_." He said sincerely, still impatient. "I won't let _you_ try anything either, if that's what you're worried about."

She finally snuggled up to him, and realized immediately that it wasn't to hard, just lying there with him. There was still a part of her that wanted to go beyond this, bush the borders a little, but for now, that part was recessive. She felt content. He sighed. She decided to ignore it, knowing he'd come t her if he wanted to talk.

When she woke up, it was morning, he was gone, and the note on the bedside table was a simple "Tristan loves Sarah", with a little heart in place of the word 'loves'.

A/N: I wanted to explain Tristan, and to give Sarah and Terrance a bit more chemistry, because I thought it was sort of lacking. Overall, I thought it was a sort of sweet chapter. REVIEW!


	11. Chapters Ten

-1A/N: I've officially decided on the fact that there are at least two more chapters (including an epilogue) but at most, eh, four. I would _so_ not get my hopes up for four. I hope I didn't get your hopes up for a date scene between Rory and Tristan, because it would basically be pointless witty dialogue the whole time with no substance and no plot moving. What you need to know for this is it's a few months later, and Rory and Tristan have been dating awhile and have a similar relationship to Rory and Logan's during her time away from Yale, avoiding reality and taking comfort in one another, etc. Rory hasn't let Tristan read "Sarah" yet, much less told him about it, and that will come into play in the next few chapters. I am confident now about how I will end this story. I MIGHT write a sequel, which would actually be focusing more on Sarah and Terrance, but I'll talk more about that idea later. All you need to know is what I've said, and uh yeah so like read.

Chapter Ten: Our Lady of Sorrows

"Rory?" Lorelai called out blearily.

"In here!" Rory called from the bathroom. She was blow-drying her hair.

"What are you _doing_ at this ungodly hour?" Lorelai complained.

"I'm sorry, did the hair-dryer wake you up?"

"Actually, your singing in the shower woke me up. But since then I have not been able to return to the happy dreamland as consequence of that contraption."

"I was not singing in the shower." Rory objected.

"I'm sorry. I heard a high-pitched rendition of David Bowie's "Magic Dance" blended with water and I only assumed it was you. Must've been Luke." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"You are a cranky girl. Go back to bed." Rory said.

"No. I can't! Have I not explained this in no uncertain terms?" Lorelai whined to her daughter's unsympathetic face.

"I can't turn the hair-dryer off. I have my first meeting with my editor today. First impressions are everything."

"Oh, right! I'm still stoked that you're getting published. It's so cool, I know an author!" Lorelai said, suddenly giddy.

"And, by the way, if you see Tristan today, don't tell him. I haven't really told him about the book yet, because so many people seem to think I based it on us in an alternate reality or something, and I thought if he saw the connection (that I'm not saying exists even though there are some parallels) then it would be embarrassing."

"Okay." Lorelai said, a little confused.

"Alright, I'm done. You can go back to bed, now." Rory said. Lorelai groaned.

"No, I can't. It's daylight now."

"Sorry. I'll talk to you later."

"Knock 'em dead."

"Planned." Rory replied. She drove to Hartford, listened to music on the way, dealt with stupid drivers, and an assortment of other boring details. She finally got there, half an hour early. She waited.

"Rory Gilmore?" A lady around thirty with dirty-blonde hair and glasses asked.

"Yes, that's me." Rory replied, standing to shake hands.

The meeting went by quickly. Other than a few places throughout the book where the name "Tristan" had been substituted for "Terrance", the book was pretty much done. It would be published in two months and hit bookshelves everywhere in three.

"Thanks a bunch." Rory said to the lady at the end of her meeting. She marched back to her car, slammed the door, and pulled out recklessly, ignoring the tears in her eyes. She pulled out her cell phone.

"Tristan, I need to get out of here for a while. When is the soonest I can pick you up?"

---

"Rory," Tristan began, slamming the door behind him, "where are we going?"

"Uhm," Rory considered, not really knowing.

"Actually, I'd like to rephrase that," He corrected himself. "_Why _are we going?"

"Because... Because it seems like a nice day. What if we went to Yale and saw Paris for a while?"

"Rory," Tristan said, shaking his head, at a loss. He turned the car off from his seat and took the keys. Rory watched motionless, a sadness in her eyes that had decided that it was pointless to put up a wall any longer.

"Rory..." Tristan began.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," Rory interrupted quietly. "I was supposed to graduate from and Ivy League school and be an international correspondent. And now? I'm running away, Tristan. I was running away with Logan and now I'm running away with you. And this book. This stupid _young adult romance fiction_ book. I completely skipped the young adult genre, Tristan. That's how advanced I was. Now I can't even write adequately enough to publish a serious book. Sure, this is going to be a hit amongst all the thirteen-year-old-girls. For a few weeks. But what then, Tristan? A sequel or two, maybe. I might even get a Disney movie that completely tears apart all my characters and my plot and turns it into a faery tale. I'm not a fucking kid anymore, Tristan!"

The brunette's monologue had begun in a quiet voice and slowly escalated to a fortissimo dynamic. Tristan stared, not being able to respond.

"I'm sorry." Rory said finally. "It's not your fault."

"...You wrote a book?" He stated astutely in reply. Rory began to answer, and then stopped and just smiled. He stared at her bugged eyed until, quite out of the blue, she burst into racking sobs.

"What...?" He couldn't of been more confused. He did his best to comfort poor Rory, never-the-less. Needless to say, Rory's car never left the street in front of Tristan's house that night.

-----------------------------------------------

Chapter Ten: An Ominous Secret

"Morning." Sarah said to her father and mother as she entered the family's kitchen.

"Are you gonna..." her father asked her mother, nodding to Sarah.

"Gonna what?" Sarah asked, grabbing a slice of left-over pizza from the refridgerator and placing it on a paper plate.

"Don't eat that for breakfast. I can make some eggs would you like that?" Her father pleaded.

"I'm fine, Dad."

"So Sarah," her mother began. Sarah realized that that important voice denoted whatever important conversation her father had asked her mother about. "How late did Terrance stay last night?"

"I dunno," Sarah replied truthfully, trying to be calm.

"I think what your mother was trying to ask is... Well, we thought he had left when we went to bed," Her father said awkwardly.

"But we were woken up at four in the morning to his car leaving the driveway," her mom continued.

"We had a lot to study," I reasoned.

"Study, huh?" her mother replied suspiciously. Sarah sighed.

"I didn't get into anything over my head, if that's what you're wondering," she replied curtly. Her parents glanced at each other, not sure what to make of this answer.

"What exactly..."

"Well, maybe not _exactly_,"

"Right, well, what did you two..."

"Do I," Sarah interrupted with annoyance, "have to spell out in Latin whether or not I'm still a virgin to you people?"

"No, I took Spanish in high school, but I don't know that, either." The older woman replied. Sarah took only a moment to wonder whether she was being serious before deciding ultimately that it didn't matter.

"I didn't sleep with him." She said. Then she frowned, and her father's relieved lok twisted once again. "Well, that's a lie. I did sleep with him. But in the literal ense, not as in, well, you know. I mean, I can't even say it, so I'm definitely not old enough to do it, right?" Sarah said sensibly. Her parents nodded assent.

"Okay, so, now that that's over with, I'm going to go get ready for school," she said, throwing the paper plate in a trash can and rushing back to her bedroom. She got ready in a slightly quicker and less-patient way than she'd become accustomed to as-of late.

As she was rushing out the door, Sarah heard her father tell her mother in the kitchen

"Lucinda, if you don't tell her tonight, I will."

---------------

A/N: Cliffhanger, sort of. Really, if I wanted to, I could have ended it in this chapter, but I think that that would be abrupt and unfair. IF YOU LOVE ME YOU'LL REVIEW. And if you don't? Well, that' means you are a bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Yeah, you heard me. A bleep.


	12. Chapters Eleven

-1A/N: I've been working on/off on this fic for _over a year now_. Okay, so, I've been working on all my active fics for over a year now, but this one is my baby. Pathetic as it is, this is the most reviews I've ever gotten. I'm really hoping for one-hundred reviews, so please. I mean, I don't mind you not bothering, but your cooperation on this point would be _so_ appreciated. I even like critic reviews. So please?

Chapter Eleven: Breathe Today

Rory woke up fully clothed. Her impress-the-editor make-up was running all the way down her face, and she was pretty sure she even _smelled_ like the tears she'd released the afternoon before. She sighed and sat up. She was in Tristan's apartment in the bedroom, but she was alone. She shook her head, remembering that Tristan had given her the bed without trying to take advantage of her, as much as she had protested (to both being given the bed and not being taken advantage of, truth spoken.) If Tristan had been that much of a gentleman back in their high school years, Rory might've had a tougher time staying with Dean.

"Might've?" Rory said, laughing a little. She'd liked him, maybe not _loved_ him, but definitely had feelings fro Tristan back then. She had had a boyfriend, then, however. Even now, she didn't regret not leaving Dean for Tristan. He hadn't been the right guy for her, back then. She paused in her musings to wander into the living room area, where Tristan was still asleep on his couch. Rory smiled a little. She went back to his bedroom where she had an extra outfit kept for when she unexpectedly stayed the night (which happened often enough). She went to the bathroom and got into the shower. Letting the hot water wash over her, she reflected over the past few months.

First, the novel. _Sarah Javerson_ was going to be published in six months. The release party was going to be in New York City, and for the first ten weeks after that she'd be doing a promotional book tour across the States, with an undetermined European tour possible afterwards. This brought mixed feelings to the girl. All the traveling, not to mention the credit for something she wasn't even sure she was glad about happening. A paycheck was a paycheck, but a YA novel had been her last idea of a successful career.

Second, Tristan. He was more than just a boyfriend, she knew that much. In the three months they'd dated, she automatically felt more connected to him than anyone she'd ever been with, in any connotation of the words. They were so different, and yet she knew that he was exactly what she needed, possibly in a life partner.

Quite possibly in a life partner.

To be honest, it _did_ scare her. After her relationships with Dean, Jess, and most of all Logan, she wasn't sure she could commit and risk losing it all. It sounded cliché, but it was genuine.

Her mother. She'd re-formed the bond between them, and now they were talking as close as ever. But there was still the residual disappointment, which resulted in guilt. And though she knew that that guilt was not born without cause, she wasn't sure she was strong enough to do anything about it. Because doing something about it would mean going back to Yale, and facing being a year behind, and inevitably meeting Logan again.

Logan. She would be naïve to tell herself she was completely over him. Though she had been the one to end the relationship, it had mostly been to protect him from her troubles. The knowledge that there would never, _could_ never be anything more between them came as a harsh blow, even now.

Still, she had Tristan, and in the end didn't need any other relationship. That was the realization that brought about a decision that we will later address.

She was finished washing herself, so she got out, towel-dried her hair, and redressed. She went back into the living room and sat in a chair facing Tristan's rest place.

"Tristan, I need to talk to you." She said. He was a light sleeper, so he was immediately awake and blinking at her.

"Rory... What time is it?"

"Ten thirty. I need to talk to you," she repeated.

"Uhm, okay?" He said sleepily. Rory sighed. Well, if he wasn't awake now, he would be soon. It was probably a bad idea this early in the relationship, but Rory was set on asking. And if you haven't guessed already, this is what she asked:

"Tristan, will you marry me?"

-----------------------------------------------

Chapter Eleven: The Reveal

"Sarah," a blonde girl Sarah barely knew hissed at her. "Note."

That said, the blonde unceremoniously flung a folded piece of paper at her. Sarah rolled her eyes and opened the note.

_Sarah,_

_Are you still with Tristan?_

_Leslie_

She frowned and scribbled an affirmative, and threw the note back at the blonde, hitting her square between the eyebrows.

"Back to Leslie, please." She said as though nothing had happened. Within a minute or so the note came back.

_Well. If you want to, you can meet me for lunch. I don't care whether you do or don't, though._

Sarah smiled. Typical Leslie, not being able to apologize.

_I guess. _She wrote in reply.

_--- _

School had gone by in a daze for Sarah that day. Her curiosity overwhelmed even her happiness at being reunited with her best friend. When she finally got home, she was eager to know what her family needed t address with her. But how to bring it up? 'Yeah, I was eavesdropping earlier and I heard you mention...' wasn't really the most brilliant plan. Her father, however, saved her the trouble. As soon as she walked in the door, her mother's voice called to her from the living room.

"What do you need?" Sarah asked, feigning boredom.

"Sit, Sarah." Her father instructed. With a huff, Sarah did as she was told.

"Sarah, your father and I have important news."

"Don't drag me into this. It was your decision, ultimately." her father said, holding up his hands in a don't-shoot-me fashion.

'Way to support your wife, Daddy,' Sarah couldn't help but think.

"Sarah, you know that for some time now I've been looking for a house or a large apartment for us out of town." Her mother began in the voice she used to talk to her associates over the telephone. Sarah's heart sunk.

"Well," Lucinda Javerson continued, "I've found a place. In a town in Connecticut."

"Wait, what? We're moving?" Sarah asked, staring.

"We're moving." Her mother nodded. She didn't look happy, but she wasn't at all sad, either.

"But... Terrance," Sarah whispered.

"I'm sorry, Honey. You two can still try a long-distance relationship if you like, but we're leaving in two months. The end of this semester."

"Couldn't I stay here? With Grandma?" Sarah reasoned.

"No. You're **my** daughter, Sarah." Lucinda said, sounding a little more offended by the suggestion than she should've been.

"But, mom!" Sarah wailed at the injustice of it all. "Your business! You can't leAve your business!"

"Sarah, it's a done deal. We've bought the house. I'm starting a new branch down there, and Maddie's coming down for the summer to hire and train suitable chefs."

Sarah could barely believe what she was hearing.

"Connecticut..." she repeated hazily, before fainting.

---------------

I got all these reviews saying things like Lucinda was pregnant, and someone else suggested divorce, and there was a birth father mystery suggestion, and my friend even suggested cancer, and those would have _all_ been dramatic and interesting plot twists, but I went with the mundane choice of _relocation_. Can you believe how trivial? I was surprised that after chapter four of "Sarah", no one guessed. Ah, well, it's been sadly forever, so I guess people have forgotten. _Please _R&R, only two more chapters to go!


	13. Chapters Twelve

-1-A/N: I'm listening to "This is Halloween" again. I think I need help. This is the second to last chapter. If you appreciate meh, please review. I know, pathetic, ne? But I'm positively addicted to reviews. I'm also looking for a beta reader for a FullMetal Alchemist fanfic, so on the off chance that IO have any anime addicts out there, well, you know how to get in touch with me. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve: And Today Was a Day Just Like Any Other

"Tristan, Will you marry me?"

"Okay." Tristan said sleepily.

"Okay?" Rory repeated in disbelief. "That's it?"

"Well, you didn't exactly make a big show of it either, did you?"

"Well, no, but, but, I don't think I expected you to say _yes_." She said, shaking her head.

"Oh. _Oh._" He said, hid face darkening.

"No! No, I mean I'm _happy_ that you said yes, I just wasn't expecting it is all."

"So, you really do want to get married?" He asked. Rory nodded.

"To me?" he affirmed. Rory rolled her eyes.

"No, to Paris. Of course to you."

"And you think that we can make it, even though we haven't been together that long?"

"I do."

"Wow, practicing already," He said. Rory grinned. There was another moment's pause. As if on cue they both broke into grins and stood up to meet in the room. There was kissing. Lots of that. Crying as well, though decidedly less of.

"I, I have to tell Mom!" Rory finally squeaked.

"Do you have to right now? I was sort of hoping we could... Ehm..." He trailed off, glancing at his bedroom. Rory shook her head fervently.

"No! No time for that now, we have the rest of our lives for that, damn it! Let's go tell my Mommy that I'm engaged!" She squealed childishly. Tristan sighed and ran a hand through his hair before getting her to agree to at least let him shower first.

"Hurry!" She urged. In twenty minutes they were out the door. Fifteen minutes passed, and Rory was running into the Dragonfly, yelling to anyone who could hear her,

"Where's my mother? Where's Lorelai!"

"She's in her office," Michel replied, except in a very much more accented voice. Rory nodded and dragged Tristan behind her.

"Wait! Wait, he can't go in there!" Michel called after them. Sookie came out from the dining room, where she'd been talking with a guest.

"What's going on?" She asked, slightly irritated.

"Damned if I know," Michel replied, pursing his lips and continuing to answer the phone. Meanwhile, Rory and Lorelai were jumping enthusiastically in the Dragonfly's kitchen, where Lorelai had actually been.

-----------------------------------------------

Chapter Twelve: But I Knew That You Were a Truth I Would Rather Lose than to Have Never Lain Beside at All

It was another Friday. Just another Friday.

"Sarah!" Terrance said cheerfully. Sarah heard him few feet behind her. It was a busy hallway, she could pretend she hadn't heard.

"Sarah!" He repeated, breaking her heart. He caught up to her.

"Sarah," he panted. "What's up?"

She stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, and he did also, causing a few people to curse at them and move around them.

"I'm moving." She told him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You're what?" He asked, not able to comprehend the words.

"I'll see you later, Terrance." She moved away from her, and he caught her wrist.

"Sarah, when are you leaving?"

"Two months." She said, refusing to meet his eye.

"Two months? Why didn't you tell me before!" He said, exasperated,

"I just found out yesterday." She replied dully. He shook his head.

"C'mon, let's skip today and talk this out." He said. Sarah jerked her wrist out of his hand.

"No, Terrance."

"Sarah, it's just one day. You're so far ahead that it won't matter."

"Terrance, I'm not skipping class, so just forget it, okay!"

"Sarah!" He said, exasperated as the bell rang. She looked at him impudently, but he realized that she has staring over his shoulder, still not meeting his eyes. His hand instinctively grabbed her face, forcefully but gently, and turned it so she couldn't look away. Her eyes welled up.

"No." She said simply before turning and running to her class. Terrance dropped his hand and walked in the other direction.

---

"Sarah, it'll be okay." Leslie said as Sarah sobbed into her shoulder.

"Sarah," Terrance interrupted. It was lunch time.

"Go away, Terrance!" Sarah said shrilly.

"No."

"C'mon, Javerson. Talk to me." He said gently.

_"C'mon, Javerson. Talk. You never talk to me anymore." Terrance tried again, just as coldly as before. He snatched the book right from her hands. This time, Sarah caught the bait._

_"I never talked to you in the first place, Terrance!"_

"He's your boyfriend, Sarah. Just because you're mad at your parents doesn't mean you can ignore him," Leslie interjected.

_"How is it you have a boyfriend and I don't?"_

_"You're a freak."_

"I can ignore him if I damn well want to." Sarah sobbed in reply.

"But Sarah, why? I love you. This doesn't have to come between us!"

_"But, Terrance, why?" Autumn sobbed. Terrance's eyes flickered over to meet Sarah's, who immediately became very absorbed in grabbing her books for third period_.

Sarah huffed in exasperation and got up to walk away from both of them, but tripped over someone's book bag.

_"Fall again, Javerson?" He asked with amusement. There was something there, though. Something that lie between them that made it different. Something very different than hate._

"Sarah!" Leslie and Terrance cried in unison, and Terrance immediately lurched forward to pick her up. Sarah pushed him away.

"Terrance! Do you not get this? I'm moving away! Far away! There's no way this can work between us anymore!" She screamed.

"But... I don't want you to move," Terrance said pathetically.

_"I don't want to move." Sarah declared once more. She wouldn't push it more than that. Sarah's mom always made plans to move, but in the end she'd never leave her business, a small, yet elegant catering service._

"Terrance..." Sarah sighed. Terrance slowly, cautiously moved in towards her and took her into his arms.

"Sarah, I don't care what you say. We can make it work." He said.

_"Easy for you to say," Leslie muttered. "You've got a guy who likes you, a cute guy, albehim a jerk."_

_"Hey!" Sarah scolded, but then thought again about specifying what she was scolding her for._

"Why should we bother, Terrance? You can have anyone you want. Why would you want to bother with _me_?"

"Because you're smart, funny, and beautiful."

_"I woke up early," she explained. "You think it's too much?"_

_"No, you look nice," Terrance told her with a grin._

"The only thing you lack is money." He finished. Sarah shook her head, sniffling.

"My mom owns a successful business." She countered.

"Lucky me." He said softly as Sarah snuggled her head into his chest. He tightened his hold on her.

_Terrance smiled sweetly at her._

_"You sleep cute," he said without thinking. Sarah opened her eyes and laughed a little._

"You know, we've only been going out officially for three days?" Sarah told him, hiccupping a little.

_"I'm liking this whole change of status here." Terrance told her happily._

_"Yeah?" Sarah said, just as happily._

_"Yep." He clarified._

"I've loved you a lot longer than that, you know." He told her. Leslie stood awkwardly off to one side. She wasn't the only one watching them at this point.

"I bet you haven't liked me half so long as I've wanted you," Sarah whispered seriously.

"I bet I have."

"_We're not going to do anything. I just want you to lie down with me, understand?" He said impatiently._

"Why now? If we've both liked each other so long, why'd we have to wait until I'm about to leave?"

"_I didn't get into anything over my head, if that's what you're wondering," she replied curtly._

"Maybe that's the way it was supposed to happen." He said, running his hand through her hair.

"Oh my. Terrance, the most popular guy in school, spouting off fate poetic?" Sarah shook her head slowly. "What the world must be coming to."

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you, too." She said, looking at his eyes, intent on her own.

"_We're moving." Her mother nodded. She didn't look happy, but she wasn't at all sad, either._

"_But... Terrance," Sarah whispered._

They didn't kiss. The moment was somehow too intimate for that, even. Wordlessly, the just took each other's hands and walked outside to his car with half the cafeteria's eyes following them. They skipped the entire next week together.

And Sarah still graduated that year with straight A's.

-A/N. This was the last chapter-chapter. The last one will be an epilogue. Pleeeeeeease review. I'm sorry, but I loved this chapter of "Sarah". In fact, this was a really Sara-centric sort of chapter, I hope no one minded. The GG part's chapter title was from Jack's Mannequin's "I'm Ready", and the other chapter title was from a song by Death Cab for Cutie called "What Sarah Said". Coincidence? You decide! Byeeee.


	14. Epilogues

-1A/N: THIS IS THE FINAL CHAPTER. I hope you have enjoyed reading Sarah Javerson as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Please review, add it to favorites, add it to your c2s, and show how much you loved/hated it.

I've never had this much of a response to a fan fiction before. I thought that I would be nothing but happy to end it, but it's really sort of bittersweet. I've been working on this far too long, however, and it's time to end this and all of my active fics so I can start writing new things. The chapter, you will notice, is really rather short. This is because I feel that it is all that is necessary to finish. Sorry, and thanks for your support over the last year.

**I don't own the song "Method Acting" by Bright Eyes (read Conor Oberst the Magnificent), the lyrics of which are at the end of this chapter.**

And without further ado, please enjoy _Sarah Javerson: The Epilogues_.

Epilogue: Rory's PoV (Continued from prologue.)

My book, _Sarah Javerson_, was published about a year later. Despite the short length, it was extremely successful, getting reviews that said things like "not your average sappy teen romance" and "a cross between such acclaimed novels as _The Perks of Being a Wallflower _and _The Princess Diaries"_. Much to my delight, many of the people I met on my promotional travels were older than I was! My book had reached age groups that my editors hadn't predicted, thus becoming a favorite among many peoples.

Eventually, the popularity did die down. However, this is in itself was a relief, because it left time for another important change in my life: my wedding.

It was in Hartford, and my mother, Paris, and Lane were all bridesmaids. Tristan's father and brother were by his side, and though he graciously offered Luke the same respects, Luke politely declined.

The wedding was in a church; Tristan's father was adamant on this point. The little flower girl, my sister Gigi, skipped down the aisle aimlessly.

My father walked me down the aisle, rather to Luke's chagrin. There was, however, a long letter of thanks to Luke that mentioned that though Christopher was my blood father, there would really only ever be one man I could see as a paternal figure.

We wrote our own vows. There is no way to write one's own vows without sounding ridiculous, but it was more intimate that way.

About a year later, my mother had her second child. To our slight disappointment, it was a boy, named William Richard Danes, after his grandfathers.

And my first born? She's due in about two months. Her name will be Lorelai Katherine, naturally. And Sarah nowadays? My husband and I had this conversation just the other day. We were sitting in our new two-bedroom apartment, on a red sofa, facing opposite a flashing television screen.

"So, I finally finished _Sarah Javerson_ today." He says to me. I look at him like he's an idiot.

"I took you _three years_ to read that tiny thing?" He shrugs.

"It's not really my genre. I had a little trouble paying attention." I swat him lightly.

"I'm not saying it was bad." He said defensively.

"Is it?"

"What ever happens to them?" He says evasively. I roll my eyes.

"I'm thinking about writing a sequel. Until then, I can't really say, can I?" I answer. He smiles, as do I. Because we both know that, due to the nature of the story, and due to the inspiration for the two main characters, that there is necessarily a happy ending in their future.

And I guess that's the end of my story, for now at least. Maybe I'll really write again. Maybe I'll go back to college. Really, with the earnings from my novel, and the movie contract I've just signed with Warner, we have enough money to keep us going for a good long while. But maybe, after Lorie is old enough, I'll return to my dream of being a journalist.

Until then, I'm happy to reminisce about how the whole idea struck me that summer I stayed at my grandparent's house, when I was taking a break from Yale.

Fin.

---

Epilogue

"All packed, then?" her mother asks. Sarah nods in reply.

"I'm going to do a quick run through of the house to make sure," Lucinda Javerson decides aloud. Her husband follows her. Sarah turns to Terrance, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Almost zero hour," he says quietly. She nods yet again. There is a short pause before they run at each other and hold each other tight. Sarah reminds herself not to cry.

Leslie could not be here. She was sent three hours ago on a plane to her cousin's house... In Sarah's future hometown. Small world.

"Are you excited?" He asks her. She shakes her head fervently. He looks at her seriously.

"A little," she admits. The new school she will be attending is an infamous prep school that many doctors, scientists, and writers worldwide have graduated from. It is even more reputable, to be honest, than Garwith.

"Good!" he says proudly. Inside he is slightly disappointed that she can even look for a future without him right beside her, because he can't image doing the same. But as long as she was happy, he could be strong as well. She draws back from his embrace.

"I think," she says quietly, "that this long distance thing will be hard."

"Does that mean you want to break up?" He asks worriedly. They hadn't even discussed this possibility before. Had he possibly been naïve in the assumption that they were completely with this relationship?

"No, of course not," she says, shaking her head. "I'm just telling you not to prepare for the best."

"Mm." He replies, not sure how to answer. He _wants_ the best, don't they deserve it? He catches her watching the light bounce off the ring he'd given her sweetly.

"Don't worry," she says. She looks up and meets his eyes. "We're engaged. I'm not about to run out on that." She whispers conspiratorially. He grins. It was true, actually. They knew that, being teenagers, the odds were against them. And they also knew that, being in different countries and both being fairly attractive people, there really wasn't anything to say that they could stay committed for that long. But they were going to try. He had proposed to her last Friday. They told her parents that it was just a promise ring, a "don't forget me" memento. They knew it was more than that.

"It's just a year. After that, I'll graduate and go to a nearby college until you can come back." He assures. She nods. She had two years of high school left, but since he was a year older he the plan had been made for him to temporarily relocate. It was they best they could do.

"I'm still working mom to let me come back to Nana and Granddad's house for winter. I don't think she'll let me, Terr." She say sadly. He shakes hi head.

"Let's not worry about it right now, babe." He says sweetly. Her parents are back, and telling her to say goodbye. He looks at the cautiously, and then kisses her goodbye. He intends it to be a quick, respectful gesture, but she kisses him back, and won't let him break away. When he finally does, she bursts into sobs. He smiles sadly and picks her up and carries her, bridal-style, to her parents' vehicle. He places her inside. In a choked voice, Sarah manages to say "practicing already?" before he closes the door and moves to the sidewalk. He hears her sobs from the car as it drives away. The moving van follows. He watches it leave, and grasps a piece of paper with Sarah's mother's cell phone number in it, knowing it will be about five minutes before he breaks down, calls to her parents to rant and rave in protest, and finally resign to a year-long depression.

For now, however, he's content to reminisce about the day, almost two and a half months ago now, that he first kissed Sarah Javerson as the sun glitters overhead.

_**Fin.**_

**Method Acting by Bright Eyes**  
There's no beginning to the story  
A bookshelf sinks into the sand  
And a language learned and forgot in turn  
Is studied once again  
It's a shocking bit of footage  
Viewed from a shitty TV screen  
You can squint at it  
Just snow and static  
To make out the meaning  
And keep on stretching the antenna  
Hoping that it will come clear  
We need some reception  
A higher message  
Just tell us what to fear  
'Cause I don't know what tomorrow brings  
To light with such possibilities  
All I know is I feel better when I sing  
Burdens are lifted from me  
That's my voice rising

So Michael please keep the tape rolling  
Boys keep strumming those guitars  
We need a record of our failures  
Yes we must document our love  
I have sat too long in my silence  
I have grown too old in my pain  
To shed this skin  
Be born again  
Oh it starts with an ending  
So thank you friends for the time we shared  
My love stays with you like sunlight and air  
No I truly wish I could keep hanging around here  
My joy is covering me  
Soon I will disappear

It's not a movie  
No private screening  
This method acting  
Well I call it living  
It's like a fountain  
A door has opened  
We have a problem  
With no solution but to love  
And to be loved  
So I've made peace with the fallen leaves  
I see their same fate in my own body  
But I won't be frightened when I'm awoken from this dream  
And return to that which gave birth to me  
Gave birth to me gave birth to me gave birth to me  
And the story goes and the story goes  
And it goes on and on and on and on  
It's going on and on and on and on


End file.
